The Board of Directors of the Brookline Education Foundation presents this report of the Foundation’s activities for our fiscal year that began on July 1, 2009 and will end on June 30, 2010

• Programs
• Fundraising

Programs
Through its programs, the BEF supports the professional growth of educators by recognizing and assisting them as they identify and pursue opportunities that will have the greatest impact on their work, the lives of their students, and on their school communities. The BEF works collaboratively with Brookline’s central
administration and school-based personnel to fund projects that support educational excellence and innovation, build school and District leadership, and advance teacher professional development and renewal.

The BEF has committed more than $211,000 in funding for its grants and program-related activities for the 2010-11 school year. These funds support activities at each of Brookline’s nine schools, including BEEP, and are broadly focused on literacy, content knowledge, education in a global society, physical well-being, classroom management, differentiated instruction, and early childhood education.

The BEF has approved $32,000 in funding for 16 grants for the 2010–11 school year, directly benefiting 18 teachers and specialists. A complete list of these Teacher Grants is included in this report.

The Collaborative Grants Program continues to thrive. Funding totaling $75,000 has been awarded for the 2010–11 school year to support 10 grants that directly involve more than 100 educators and hundreds of students systemwide. A complete list of the Collaborative Grants is included in this report.

The Brookline Education Foundation sponsors several awards and endowed programs that honor individuals and enhance educational experiences for teachers and students.

• The Ernest R. Caverly Awardis given annually to one elementary and one high school teacher in recognition of professional excellence and contributions to the Brookline Public Schools. The 2010 recipients are Bernard Pendleton, Heath School’s Art teacher, and Elon Fischer, an English teacher at Brookline High School.

• The Adam Russell Gelfand Fellows Program annually recognizes an outstanding recipient of a Brookline Education Foundation Teacher Grant. This year’s Fellowship is awarded to Jeff Denman, 7th grade Social Studies teacher at Baker School, who will travel to South Carolina’s Department of Archives and History to research the Revolutionary War’s Southern Campaign and its connection to the British surrender.

• The Charlie Baker Legacy Awardwas created to provide funding for a grant for continuing education, travel, program development, or other similar pursuits in the area of US History and/or World Geography. The 2010 recipients of this award are Joanne Burke Hunter and Mark Wheeler, Social Studies teachers from Brookline
  High School, who will visit Kenya to broaden their knowledge and expand their teaching of post-colonial and
  modern Africa.

• In June, the Todd Saker Fund will fund a visit to Brookline High School by Marie Lee, an author whose work is included in the anthology, First Crossing, BHS’s required summer reading book. Ms. Lee will speak at the kick-off assembly for the summer reading book, which will include current 8th grade students. She will also
  conduct writing workshops with students throughout the day.

• The Jack and Jordan Trust Litchman Fund again supported ocean and tidepool studies with a visit by the New England Aquarium’s Tidepool exhibit to each third-grade classroom in Brookline.

• The BEEP Fund supported visits to Brookline preschool classrooms by musician Philip Alexander and by the New Philharmonia Orchestra’s traveling instrument “Petting Zoo."

• The annual ScienceFest was held this year at Devotion School.

• In collaboration with local toy store Henry Bear’s Park and the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood, the BEF sponsored a screening of Consuming Kids: The Commercialization of Childhood. Following the film, Susan Linn, Director of the CCFC, lead a discussion focused on how adults can promote imaginative play in
  children.

Thanks to the continued generosity of our many supporters, we are confident that we shall end the year with $350,000 to fund the BEF’s 2010-11 budget, including grants and awards, communications and fundraisingexpenses, and personnel and office expenses.

As of May 14, we have collected $266,355 from the following sources:  

* This amount includes donations given to the BEF to support the BEEP Fund, the Adam Russell GelfandFellowship, the Todd Saker Fund, and the Robert Weintraub Fund.

The Adult Spelling Bee, which will add more than $24,000 to our coffers when outstanding pledges are paid, was very successful, with 64 teams participating, celebrity word pronouncers, and coverage on local access television. This year the BEF partnered with Climate Change Action Brookline to "green" the Spelling
Bees. Throughout the course of the afternoon, we shared tips on making homes and businesses more environmentally friendly. The program was printed on recycled paper and other steps were taken to lower our impact on the environment in which we all live.

Congratulations to "Los Encantados,” a team from the Brookline Center featuring spellers Himal Mitra, Damon Burnard, and James Parker, who won the Adult Bee by correctly spelling the word “puerperal." The Best Costume prize was awarded to The Sustainables, whose team members Peggy Ueda, Mary Dewart, and Ed
Loechler, took the green theme seriously, dressing up in recycled materials. Congratulations also to Alma Bitran, a 5th grade student from Baker School, who won the Children's Spelling Bee by correctly spelling the word “mosquito.” Bob Zintl from Lincoln School won second place.

The BEF conducted its sixth raffle, this year adopting a green theme, moving the drawing to the fall, reducing the ticket price to $50, and doubling the number of tickets to 1200. All tickets were sold, netting more than $55,000 for the BEF’s programs and activities. The winner of this year’s raffle was Pierce School parent
Pam DiPiro. Thank you to the many parents, teachers, and Brookline residents who purchased raffle tickets as a way to support the BEF and the public schools that are so vital to our town.

The Foundation is extremely grateful for the continued support of local businesses. In particular, the following businesses consistently make an extraordinary effort to give back to the community:   

• Audy’s Mobil/Cypress Automart, Inc.
• Biomedical Modeling Inc.
• Brookline Bank
• Brookline Booksmith
• Chestnut Hill Realty Corp.
• The Children’s Book Shop
• Chobee Hoy Associates Real Estate
• The Clayroom
• Clear Flour Bakery
• Connelly Hardware
• Corinthian Events
• Eureka Puzzles
• Finale Desserterie
• The Fireplace Restaurant
• Green Guild of Massachusetts
• Hammond Residential Real Estate
• Henry Bear’s Park
• Kaplan Test Prep and Admissions
• Kookoo Cafe
• My Oilcloth
• Party Favors
• Pediatric Dental Associates
• Pho Lemongrass
• Sara Campbell, Ltd.
• The UPS Store in Brookline Village
• Wainwright Bank
• Whole Foods Market
• Zaftig Delicatessen
• Zipcar

These local businesses understand that it makes good business sense to support the public schools through the Brookline Education Foundation. Please show your appreciation by supporting them.

The BEF’s newsletter, published two times this year, is distributed to over 6,000 families, educators, and friendstownwide. Two email newsletters were sent to donors for whom we have email addresses. Throughout the year, the Brookline TAB publishes articles and press releases about our activities. The regular feature “Our Town Our Teachers” highlights the work of recent grant recipients.

This year, the BEF sponsored a celebration of the 100th day of school by asking students to answer the question: “Why do you love learning?” by decorating green paper apples. The apples were “harvested” at each school and placed on three-dimensional trees created by the BEF. The 100th day was also marked in classrooms town-wide with special counting activities, music, and readings from well-known books celebrating the milestone.

After 13 years, Executive Director Skye Morrison Kramer is stepping down at the end of June. Assistant Director Kathleen Sheehy will assume the position of Executive Director on July 1.

2010 has been a good year for the Brookline Education Foundation and, as a result, for excellence and innovation in education in the Brookline Public Schools. As we prepare to celebrate our 30th anniversary nextyear, the Board of Directors, Board of Overseers, and staff of the Brookline Education Foundation look forward
to continuing to expand the reach and the impact of our activities on behalf of Brookline’s teachers, administrators, and students.